iPad Pro Hands-on Makes the Case for Productivity Uses, Apple Pencil Is Excellent

[Koatsey]

It's nice and all, but the only real reason why anyone would buy this over SP4 is if they are very heavily invested in Apple. Nothing about this iPad says that it would compete with SP4.

Great article and so on it in too many areas for Apple to be worried which is a change of tune for me when I first saw the Surface book. I'm laying on my bed in my hotel room in Miami with my MacBook 12 inch retina on my lap writing this having just come back from the Microsoft Store in Dadeland.

I was all set to buy the Surface Book 1TB or the SP 4 but having played around with it for 20 minutes I have decided I won't be buying this or the Pro 4. Why follows:

1) Try using the screen as tablet only, it is too long and after a short while it gets awkward and feels heavy to hold.

2) Windows 10 and the app's that MS say are touch orientated is simply not. I tried to use OneNote in 'Tablet Mode', i.e. touch only and what a mess. When you touch the screen the onscreen keyboard does not appear. So I look for the key board at the bottom right but hey it's disappeared. The senior sales guy, I was referred to him as a result of the issue, said it was because I, as was everyone, expected to use the pen only. Since when did OneNote become just a pen, drawing application...? I said I used OneNote a lot and wanted to use the onboard keyboard. No not possible when in tablet mode. So basically I said to the guy, do you not think this is making the Surface Book a very niche product if you can only use OneNote, and many many other things, with a pen when in tablet mode?

3) At the priced quotes the OS and User Interface (UI) need to be slick, Windows 10 is smile not a touch UI nor is it a tablet that can compete wit true tablet designs, OS and apps designed for touch.

So I have gone from yep I want one to I might actually buy the iPad Pro. In short I have done a 360 degree turnaround on both products... Wow this tells me even more, touch before you buy. If you want to write lots of notes because they have drawings to and can only afford one key machine then maybe a Surface Book or Pro 4 but the drawbacks I feel are numerous and this is still a niche reason.

As basic laptop, $600 and a table from Android manufacturers or an iPad will serve the majority better. Oh and I will suggest, IMHO, that the go to device 80% of the time will be a tablet. Why, because it cover 80+ % of what we do 90% of the time, email, surfing, documents, note taking, games and so on.

So in summary I was underwhelmed when hands-on with the new MS Tablet's which was a shock. I walked straight out of the store and into the Apple store and bought my 14 son an MacBook 12 inch to replace his Surface Book 3 running Windows 10. I also did not end up ordering the 1TB Surface Book, wow, it goes to show you it's about the total package, hardware, OS, and software and currently that is not MS which is a shame as I was all set...

So this is the competition, I feel the iPad Pro will do well and MS won't be getting my money this time around, even with what look like a great product, it falls down in reality and as tablet the iPad Pro with continue to run rings around SP4 and Surface Book, it's a true table....

 

[farewelwilliams]

Notability has amazing palm rejection, but far from perfect, and definitely far from iPad Pro/Pencil experience - which is the closest to perfection because I am a believer of "nothing is perfect in this universe." But if in 1-10 scale where 10 is godlike perfection, iPad Pro/Pencil score 9.9.

so you've tried the Pencil? do apps get confused if you slide your palm a bit across the screen or rotate even just a bit?

 

[farewelwilliams]

Did you try the Jot PRO?

I foolishly dismissed it for years because of the awkward looking clear plastic disc at the writing tip. In the mean time I spent a small fortune trying virtually every new Bluetooth and "fine point" stylus as they were released. Many of these were great styluses, but all fell short of the precision and writing feel I desired. A couple months ago I came across an excellent article comparing more than 20 styluses spanning Bluetooth, non-Bluetooth, passive and active categories. This well written and authoritative article surprisingly proclaimed the Jot PRO the best of the bunch. I decided to try one. It was the best $29 I have spent.

The Jot PRO is amazing: precise, smooth, quiet and has no noticeable lag. And because it is passive it works with any app that works with a finger. It is awesome with Notes Plus, Notability and Paper By 53.

Adonit just released the Jot Dash active fine point stylus so I purchased one hoping to get Jot PRO performance without the clear disc. While a fine very pen-like stylus, the Jot Dash is no Jot PRO.

I wish I had tried the Jot PRO earlier. It is an awesome stylus!

I have a Jot Pro. Probably about 1 out of 5 strokes on the screen, it fails to recognize and that's terribly annoying.

 

[jlc1978]

There is no productivity without a convenient way to exchange documents between apps and computers

I do this now with my iPad. ITunes lets me do it, as well as many third party apps that give access to iPad files. With iTunes I can drag and drop between my Mac and iPad easily; I often create a document on my iPad and do final edits on the Mac.
What is it you need?

 

[Shirasaki]

I don't understand why people expect Mac OS X to be ported to tablets. It's been said time and time again that OS X is not optimized for tablets because it isn't a touch friendly OS. And you will never see that happen. That's why you have iOS. There are limitations that go along with that as well. However, Apple has taken the liberty of sharing certain features between OS X and iOS. But they've chosen them carefully in order to maintain the user experience on a tablet / phone. If you want to carry OS X around with you, there are plenty of options from MacBook, MacBook AIR, and MBP. Not a tablet. If you are so determined to have a full blown desktop OS on a tablet, stick with the Surface. In my opinion, Windows on a tablet isn't the greatest experience either.

I think, partly because iPad Pro features a 12.3" screen. Such screen size and at least 1000+ price tag would let customers think this iPad should be able to do jobs conventional 9.7" iPad cannot do.

 

[maflynn]

I don't understand why people expect Mac OS X to be ported to tablets. It's been said time and time again that OS X is not optimized for tablets because it isn't a touch friendly OS. And you will never see that happen.

I never said I expect apple to do it, just that because they didn't, its dead on arrival for me.

As for optimizations, don't you think apple would update OSX for touch? I think that's a strawman because its really isn't an issue. If apple wanted to put OSX on tablet, they'd update it to run on a tablet.

 

[Warbrain]

I do this now with my iPad. ITunes lets me do it, as well as many third party apps that give access to iPad files. With iTunes I can drag and drop between my Mac and iPad easily; I often create a document on my iPad and do final edits on the Mac.
What is it you need?

Using iTunes to move documents between devices is an archaic method that needs to be killed.

 

[ct2k7]

I was thinking about the iPad Pro, but as a developer, it has a massive problem with source control / versioning systems, and thus, it sadly will have to pass in favour of a Surface.

 

[Virinprew]

You actually made 3 points there. (Although the profit one was a but nonsensical)

In regards to handwriting, you should research a bit first. There are many iOS apps for handwriting notes. Penultimate is good.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?sit....1c.2.64.mobile-gws-hp..0.2.215.3.qmblp9ouJ0s

In regards to lack of SD slot, there's ways around that. People have coped fine without one on iOS devices so far.

I'm not talking about apps. I'm talking about the thing you use to write. There is no good stylus or pencil for that matter currently on sale.
For the storage space, I don't want to discuss it anymore. See their Q4 profit. I wonder where all those profits come from.

 

[shandyman]

I'm not talking about apps. I'm talking about the thing you use to write. There is no good stylus or pencil for that matter currently on sale.
For the storage space, I don't want to discuss it anymore. See their Q4 profit. I wonder where all those profits come from.

You said handwriting in your post, you never said stylus. I'm not a mind reader, so unless you were specific, no one would know which you meant.

SD slots for more space is pretty much a non issue as there are workarounds, there's cloud storage, as I said, people have coped fine without it.

Profit is really something pointless to bring into this thread. Apple is a business, they want to make profits, or do you not comprehend how a business works. Of course they will charge more for more storage. If you thought otherwise, you're daft.

 

[iChrist]

based on extensive hands on usage

Based on extrapolating an existing iPad by 25% and extrapolating it's price by 100%.

lol

 

[shahp2]

guess I'm going to have to buy the pencil day of too.

Was waiting for iPad Pro to be released and later decide if I should buy iPad Pro or Surface Pro 4, looked at multiple reviews, most favoring Surface Pro 4. Below review was a decent comparison between the two.

Surface Pro 4 has desktop-class processors ranging up to the Core i7 vs. the iPad Pro’s mobile ARM processor

RAM up to 16GB vs. the iPad Pro’s 4GB maximum
Storage up to 1TB vs. the iPad Pro’s 128GB maximum

USB port for easily connecting a broad array of industry-standard devices

Dedicated docking solutions that dramatically expand peripheral support

Multi-monitor support up to two external monitors (a total of three independent workspaces)

Built-in microSD card support with support for external application installation

Complete support for all third-party input devices, including keyboards, mice, trackpads, joysticks, etc.

My decision was just made easier, thank you for all the informative reviews.